Things Lydia learned during summer break
by Kh2os
Summary: There are certain things that Lydia learned during the summer between sophomore year and junior year.
1. Chapter 1

Werewolves are real. Werewolves are real and Jackson was one. So were Isaac, Derek, Scott, Boyd, and Erica. There were also kanimas and werewolf hunters. There are probably a lot more creatures out there, but Lydia was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that there are werewolves. Lydia is also still dealing with the fact that Jackson died in her arms less than twenty minutes ago.

Argent tells Jackson that he needs to go to the hospital before he goes home. Jackson just nods quietly; he hasn't spoken since he asked if she still loved him. Argent grabs Allison and they leave on their own, while Derek and Isaac slip away without anyone noticing. Peter must have gone with them. She's glad. She doesn't have the strength to face that man. All who's left in the warehouse is Scott, Stiles, Jackson, and her. Stiles glances at Jackson and abruptly looks away.

"Dude, you need to cover up before you get in my jeep. I'm not having your junk touch my seats. I'll never be able to wash that out."

Jackson snarls and Lydia rolls her eyes. Scott moves to the jeep's trunk, pulling out a pair of sweats and tosses them to Jackson. Stiles makes an indignant noise, before quieting at the look Scott shoot him. Lydia crawls into the backseat with Jackson, grasping one of his hands in both of hers. She squeezes tightly, letting him know that she's here for him. He squeezes back. The jeep starts right up and Stiles smiles gleefully, patting the dashboard affectionately. Scott smiles softly, before turning to look out the window.

She wonders if he was wishing he was with Allison right now. It takes some maneuvering, before Stiles is able to drive out of the warehouse. Jackson still hasn't said a word and she's worried. Before, he would have never missed an opportunity to tell Scott or Stiles how stupid they were. Scott is the one to break the silence, and it occurs to her that silence between Scott and Stiles must be rare.

"I think we should just play the _"I don't know"_ card when it comes to explaining what happened with Jackson." Jackson doesn't say anything, so Scott continues. "The doctors will run tests, police will have questions, but it would be best if you just played dumb."

Jackson nods. Lydia glances at Stiles and sees his hands tightening on the wheel. He gives a stiff nod at Scott too. Scott's hand comes up to touch Stiles cheek. She can see Scott's jaw muscle tighten.

"Who was it?" Scott asked.

Stiles moves a little, pulling away from Scott's hand.

"Gerard. A bunch of his goons grabbed me when the lights went out over the field. He was using me to get to you. By the way, Erica and Boyd are tied up in their basement."

A look of shock comes over Scott's face before he nods and pulls out his phone to text Derek the location of his pack.

"Don't worry about Gerard. He'll be suffering from now on."

Stiles and Lydia both turn to look at Scott.

"Is he dead?" Lydia asks.

Jackson and Scott both shake their heads.

"He was dying of cancer, and wanted the bite," Scott answered.

Stiles snorted. "So he gets away with killing werewolves, but the moment he realizes he's dying he wants to be one of the so called monsters."

"He threatened to kill my mom, if I didn't help him. I ended up earning his trust and was able to replace his medication with pills full of mountain ash. Derek's bite became ineffective on him. Right before he ordered the kanima to kill us he was spitting up black blood. He must have taken off shortly after that. Argent will find him."

"You sure Argent won't help him? He is his father after all, not to mention Argent has tried to kill you on multiple occasions."

Lydia can see Stiles shot Scott a weird look that she can't interpret and Scott shakes his head slightly. Stiles exhales loudly and his fingers twitch against the steering wheel. They pull up to a four-way stop when suddenly Stiles whips his head to stare at Scott.

"HANG ON, WAS THAT PETER THAT HELPED DEREK?!"

Lydia winced at the volume and she was worried she would have to explain what happened. She's not even sure what happened herself. Her heartbeat must tic up because Jackson is staring at her curiously. Scott winced and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah, I forgot to mention that. I don't know how but apparently he's alive and claiming he is a changed man. I didn't ask and I personally consider him to be Derek's problem right now."

"Oh sure, till Derek turns more teenagers and Peter uses him to go on his next killing spree."

Lydia snaps. She had just watched Jackson be impaled on both Hales' claws and she wants to get him to a hospital and she **does not** want to talk about Peter.

"Can we please just drive? They are bound to notice Jackson missing from the morgue."

Stiles and Scott turned to stare at her in shock. Jackson squeezes her hand lightly.

Stiles nods and shifts gears, the rest of the car ride is in silence until they reach the hospital's parking lot. Jackson asks Stiles to take Lydia home, when she moves to get out of the car with him. She can't mask the hurt on her face when she hears that. Jackson moves to kiss her cheek.

"I promise that we will talk later, but right now I need to be alone. At least until my parents get here."

She nods, not quite wanting to leave him so soon after what they went through, but also knowing that he needed time to process everything. Jackson turns to Scott.

"Thank you, for not giving up on me." Jackson choked out.

Something in Scott's expression softens and he nods. He reaches out and squeezes Jackson's shoulder.

"Let me know if you need anything."

Jackson nods and turns to go into the hospital.

Stiles and Scott drop her off at her house, with the same goodbye as Jackson. Scott tells her to call if there's anything she needs. As she closes the door, she hears Scott asking Stiles to drop him off at Allison's. He needs to make sure she is okay. Lydia wonders if any of them will be okay after all this. Her mother is asleep on the couch, no doubt waiting for Lydia. Lydia takes the blanket and covers her, promising herself to talk with her mother in the morning. She changes into one of Jackson's t-shirts and crawls into bed. Sleep eludes her though.

The night's events keep playing over and over again in her head. She wonders if she hadn't liked Allison's jacket or choose to hang out with Scott, if her life would have stayed normal. She turns to face the wall. Her phone says that it is three in the morning. Tomorrow is Saturday, so she's not worried about school. She feels she's about to drift off when her window opens. She bolts right up and Prada starts growling. She grabs her phone, not knowing if she needs to call someone or if she plans to throw it at the intruder.

A dark human shape climbs through and falls to the floor. She reaches for the lamp, light filling the room. There stands Jackson. He's now wearing his own sweats and a t-shirt. He looks exhausted. Lydia is out of the bed and throwing her arms around him in an instant. He clutches her too him just a little too tight but she likes it. It reaffirms that he's here. She's crying against his chest, damping his shirt. Jackson murmurs in her ear. He keeps saying that he's sorry over and over again. Sorry for breaking up with her, dying, or even the whole kanima thing she doesn't know. She doesn't know what to say to him. Instead she leans back, wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him into a kiss.

Later she's curled up into his side panting with the after effects. She feels sore. A good kind of sore. Jackson's arm is wrapped around her. His hand tracing her spine. She's about to drift off into sleep when Jackson starts talking. He tells her everything. From when Derek had scratched Jackson's neck looking for Scott, to when he figured out there were werewolves, asking Derek for the bite, and even the things he remembered while under the control of Matt and Gerard. He tells her that when he showed up at the hospital the doctors started freaking out when finding he was alive and ran some tests.

They wanted him to stay the night but he begged his parents to take him home. It was his mom who was the calmest and his dad was an emotional wreck. After they got over the shock of him being alive, his dad was crying and hugging him. He wanted to sue the school, the EMTs, and the hospital itself. Jackson convinced him not to and even to drop the restraining order against Scott and Stiles. She lets him talk, lets him get everything out in the open and she feels relief for the first time in months. She thinks that lying here in Jackson's arms, him being honest with her; it makes her believe that everything will be okay. Werewolves are real and her boyfriend is one of them. There are worse things that could happen.


	2. Jackson moves to London

Jackson is moving to London, and Allison is going to France, maybe indefinitely

Two weeks before summer break Allison revealed to Lydia that Argent and her were going to France for the summer, and it might be a permanent move. Lydia wasn't all that shocked. According to Allison, they had originally came to Beacon Hills to deal with the werewolves. Now after her mother's death, Gerard, and even Kate's death, her father was thinking that Beacon Hills was no longer the place for them.

Lydia also knew that Scott and Allison had broken up and barely looked at each other. Jackson was no longer at school. His parents thought it would be best to withdraw him for the remainder of the year. Scott would have to attend summer school. She had no idea what Stiles would be doing.

Lydia hadn't planned on spending the summer without her best friend. She had planned on shopping trips, hanging out at her family's lake house and trips to San Francisco. However, she knew that Allison would most likely be in pain for a long time and needed to heal. So Lydia told Allison that she cared for her and that she wanted her to have a good time in France and if the move isn't permanent, then Lydia wears a size 4.

Allison had laughed and hugged Lydia. They promised to keep in touch with emails and the occasional phone call. She thought that while she was losing Allison, at least she could still spend the summer with Jackson. Apparently life had other plans. Two days after school let out for summer, Jackson revealed that he was moving to London with his parents. While they didn't know the full details of what happened to their son, they couldn't ignore the fact that there was danger and something weird about Beacon Hills.

When Jackson told her this, Lydia's heart seemed to stop. Jackson went on talking about how Derek gave him all the information on how to control his werewolf side and even about a contact in England, who could help him if he needed it. Lydia thought her world had steadied after finding out about the supernatural and now it was being turned on its axis.

She didn't say anything as Jackson explained that this move was best for him. He couldn't go back to being normal after what happened with Matt and Gerard. He needed a fresh start. When he said that, Lydia understood. She didn't want to. She wanted to beg him to stay with her or even try the long distance thing, but she knew neither of them could promise that. She smiled, cracked a joke about an American werewolf in London that had Jackson rolling his eyes, and gave him a long kiss goodbye.

One that had him tugging her hips closer to him. So close that they aligned perfectly and she could feel how the kiss affected him. She pulled back and put some distance between them. If they slept together now, it would make everything harder. She wished him the best and walked toward her car. The tears didn't come till she was at home, hugging Jackson's jersey. She cried for a while, until she fell asleep. She felt as if this would be her worst summer ever.


	3. Scott is not as dumb as she thought

Two weeks after Jackson left, she got a text message from Scott. He asked her if she was okay with meeting him at a coffee house. He offered to buy her whatever she wanted. She knew it was coming, she just assumed that it would happen when they unintentionally ran into each other. Scott was going to ask about Allison, or Peter, but it was probably Allison. She had only emailed Allison a few times and there seemed to be an unspoken agreement not to mention either of their boys.

She thought about not answering, or even telling him that her schedule was full when another text came in. This one was from her dad. His read that he had talked to her mother and since Lydia had no plans he would like her to join him and Veronica, the girlfriend, for lunch. Lydia's fingers flew over the keyboard and in the next second she had a coffee-not-a-date with Scott.

Two days later Lydia found herself at Beacon Hills Caffeinated, looking for Scott in the overcrowded café. She spotted him in a corner booth, away from the crowd. He had two cups on the table, and she briefly wondered where Stiles was, and was shocked when she realized she was half expecting both of them. As she got closer to the table, she noticed that Scott had a bookbag lying next to him and the table was covered in books and paper.

 _Summer school,_ her mind supplied.

She had almost forgotten that Scott had failed the school year, and if he didn't do well in summer school he would have to repeat sophomore year. She stopped right at the edge of the table, her purse swaying slightly and everything tinted with her sunglasses still on. Scott was reading what appeared to be a homework assignment, when she came to the table, and as she got close he put it down.

She lifted her shades to the top of her head, eyes taking in everything. Scott was avoiding her gaze, looking around her. He was nervous and she could tell that he wanted something. She could tell that look on a male a mile away, but the only difference was that Scott wasn't trying to glance at her boobs in between avoiding her eyes.

"Hey," he said, clearing his voice a little.

He was a bit darker since the last time she saw him. He had obviously been out in the sun. She noticed that the coffee cup across from him had 'Styles' written across it, and she knew that she was right about Stiles being here with him. She watched as Scott struggled to ask her the question. She was already prepared to tell Scott that Allison and he had broken up and that she was not going to give him any information regarding her.

 _Sisters before misters,_ she thought to herself.

Scott's eyes finally met hers and he opened his mouth. "Can you help me with my chemistry homework?"

Lydia had been so shocked that the question wasn't about Allison that she had said yes without really thinking about it. She was going over Scott's homework questions, while he waited at the counter for her order. She wondered again where Stiles was. She had been here for twenty minutes and only seen his coffee cup. She had picked it up when Scott left to get her drink and noticed it was half full.

' _The bathroom, possibly,'_ she thought to herself.

The half drank cup was not the only evidence that Stiles had been there. There were several sheets of paper, and on Scott's notes themselves, with Stiles' chicken scratch on it. It gave her a headache trying to make sense of it.

Scott had chosen a booth that enabled privacy and dulled the noise level to a humming noise. She looked up at Scott. She wanted a non-fat vanilla latte with foam. There were several of their female classmates around the counter all giving Scott the eye. He didn't seem to notice them. He was staring at the menu board with a mild interest.

Lydia found herself smiling softly. Scott would have to be told point blank that those girls were interested in him. He wasn't the type to notice it by himself. Lydia looked back down at the sheet of paper. It was surprising accurate. She noticed about one or two that needed correcting, but Scott was on the right path to figuring out the correct answer. She was reading his paragraph on chemical reactants, when Scott came back to the table. He placed her cup in front of her and slid into his seat. He didn't ask her anything, but instead started to straighten some papers and pulled out a pen. A part of her was still waiting for him to ask about Allison.

Scott was highlighting a paragraph in one of his books when Lydia asked him where Stiles was. Scott glanced at her curiously, as if wondering how she knew Stiles had been there. She pointed to the coffee cup.

"Oh, yeah he was here earlier. He was trying to help me with what he remembered, but it's hard for him to focus during the summer. He goes off his adderall. We were halfway through my homework and his hatred of Harris when he noticed Deputy Tara going in across the street."

Scott pointed at the burger joint.

"Apparently, Sheriff decided to order a double bacon cheeseburger with extra bacon, curly fries, and a chocolate milkshake. Stiles decided to go and deliver to his dad personally a salad with light dressing, carrots and celery, and a yogurt for desert. He probably won't be joining us again."

Lydia laughed and was surprised to find that it was a genuine laugh. She hadn't had one of those in weeks. She handed the paper back to Scott. There were only about three things that needed correcting. He looked them over and flipped to a marked page in his chemistry book to find the correct answers. He had her confirm that those were the answers he was looking for, before he moved to another section. She watched him shuffle through the papers as she nursed on her latte.

When she first started hanging around Scott this year, she assumed that while he wasn't a straight A student, she didn't think he was downright dumb. However, as the year went on and he seemed to fail every class, she worried that she had misjudged. Now, though, she knew that it wasn't a matter of intelligence, but a matter of focus. Scott pushed school work to the back and focused more on trying to help people from the current werewolf problems. She watched diligently as he studied and she began to realize that Scott probably was a straight A student. Lydia noticed another paper with Stiles' handwriting on it.

"How do you understand it?" She asked, the question coming out before she had time to think about it.

"Huh?"

"Stiles' notes." She waved to one of the sheets with Stiles handwriting on them.

"I don't know… I just do. It's hard to explain how though."

Lydia nodded and leaned back against the cool leather of the booth. She stayed at the coffee house for about two hours, helping Scott with whatever subject he had questions in. He never once brought up Allison, or even Peter. Eventually, Scott began putting his school work away as he had to get to work. She stood up and stretched, aware that some of the guys were giving her the once over. The entire time of studying, Scott had very few questions and the ones he did have were just because he was over thinking.

She grabbed their empty cups and tossed them into the trash. Scott walked her to her car and thanked her profusely for her help. She replied that she was glad to help and if he had any more questions he could call her. She turned her car on, and waited for the air conditioning to start. She was pleasantly surprised to have learned that Scott was not as dumb as she thought.

Lydia watched as Scott was unchaining his bike from the rack and a cute blond girl approached Scott. She gave him a small piece of paper, that Lydia knew was her number, and giggled when she watched both the girl and Scott blush as he figured out what the number was for.

Yes, Scott was smarter than he let on… on certain things at least.


	4. Boyd and Erica are classified as missing

"Lydia?"

Lydia was looking through dresses on clearance when her mother called for her. She turned toward the dressing rooms and her mother walked out. She was wearing a black knee length skirt and a white button down blouse.

"What do you think?"

"Hmm… not bad, but it's too business woman cliché."

Lydia's mother turned to the mirror, smiling at her daughter's reflection.

"Well what should a woman who is returning to work where for her first interview in sixteen years wear?"

"Well, I think you should show off some of your best assets." Lydia answered, as she turned to grab the two dresses she had chosen for her mother.

"I'm not going to show cleavage."

Lydia smiled and handed her mom the dresses.

"Like the skirt and blouse, cleavage is an overrated cliché as well. You are going to show off the long legs and leave everything thing else to the imagination. Another benefit would be that if they won't be able to stare at your legs from across the desk, and your boobs will be covered. It gives you the advantage of having to talk your way into the job, instead of working your way."

Lydia's mother scoffed and took the dresses back to the dressing room.

"Oh sweetheart, I almost forgot. I just heard that two students in your class was declared missing a couple of weeks ago. An Erica Reyes and Vernon Boyd. Did you know them?"

Lydia stumbled a little. She thought about the last time she had seen Erica and Boyd. They were trying to kill her because they thought she was the kanima. But before that she remembered Boyd sitting at a table by himself and Erica having seizures, and then Erica walking like a runway model into the cafeteria.

That was the last time she remembers seeing them in person. She heard about what happened after though. She heard how they left Derek, took off on their own, only for Allison to corner them and shot at them. She remembers Allison almost shaking when she told Lydia that she wanted to kill them. They were held in Gerard's basement until Chris let them out. No one's seen them since. Lydia felt that they had run as far as they could to get away from Beacon Hills. However, a small part of her felt that Boyd and Erica weren't safe at all. It was a nagging feeling. She tried to shake it off. Derek probably had them holed up somewhere, trying to train them. That was all.

"No," she answered her mother. "I didn't know them at all."


End file.
